Government’s actions are typically authoritarian

Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC Government is planning to reward itself with a substantial fifty percent salary increase amid funding cuts for children (Government Voucher – $10,000.00 GY), low wages for teachers, ultra low pension payments and sky-high joblessness.  The majority of Guyanese are barely surviving under harsh economic conditions with no relief in sight. Out of despair they are resorting to drugs, crime and soliciting handouts among other means of survival. Those who cannot make it are often sucked into suicide.  No one deserves a life like this. Government’s actions can only be described as wild, selfish, unpatriotic, unkind, uncaring and shameless. Pension payments this low is a serious violation to the rights of seniors, but Government bluntly refuses to address this problem. Instead, it is focusing on its own welfare. How can this ever be morally right?  Editor, our country runs on donations and remittances for the most part. Just recently, our Prime Minister was publicly begging for international donations to buoy an agency.  It is our responsibility as an independent nation to provide for ourselves. Most of our agencies have gone bankrupt, or are on the verge of becoming so, because we do not have a proper attitude for development. Development comes with hard work and delayed gratification. Can we take pride in our actions when we beg for money to support our lifestyle? This should not be a way of life.  How long will the world continue to shoulder our burden? Government’s actions are typically authoritarian. We all know that this Government forcibly pushed its gigantic cabinet down our throats and we were forced to digest it. We had no choice but to dig deep into our pockets to support their salaries. This seemed not to be enough to satisfy Government’s insatiable appetite.  Government is still hungry. Again, it has its eyes like a hawk, sharply focused on our pockets. This time it is eyeing a fat salary increase to shoulder the cost of its gigantic cabinet. Assaults like these have destroyed our country and have eclipsed the lives of innocent Guyanese.  Dollars allotted to pamper Government can be meaningfully redirected to pay school teachers a decent salary, so as to attract and retain the best in providing a quality education. This will guarantee us a path out of poverty.  I am sure if Government were not beneficiaries of this salary increase, it too would have condemned it. This story gets even more ridiculous when one realizes that government has only been in office for less than six months and the country is on a downward spiral. How can a salary increase be justified under these circumstances?  It seems that we have jumped from the frying pan, escaping the PPP/C right, into the fire under the APNU/AFC Government. We did not expect unpatriotic behaviours to be markers of change. Is this what Government meant by change? Every indicator points to further erosion of our fragile country under this new Government.  The economy has gone further south, crime has jumped, tourism has plunged, health care remains poor and joblessness is at an all-time high. Government has failed to deliver anything of benefit to the Guyanese people and a strong case can be made that the development of our country is weighted down by its policies.  Government knows that its actions will attract criticism but yet it is pressing ahead with it. Why? Mr Joseph Harmon wasted no time spinning propaganda that this salary increase is an anti-corruption strategy.  Who does Mr Harmon thinks he is tricking?  No Guyanese will believe him.  If he is not careful, he can earn himself the nick name of Slick Joey. We all know the current Government cabinet is built on a foundation of corruption – composed mainly of friends and family. To Slick Joey, this is not corruption but to the rest of the world it is nothing less. Under no circumstance can a fifty percent pay hike be justified given the length and breadth of poverty. As citizens, we need to kill this idea of a pay hike by all means. It is not good at all, especially not for social cohesion.  This is another lie this Government is peddling.  If the Ministers want to enrich themselves, then this is not the job for them. Guyana has better qualified candidates who are willing to serve even without monetary incentives but are bullied out of the work force. They are treated with scorn. Job opportunities for the most part are unjustly reserved for friends and family.  In short, Government’s actions cannot be part of the essential ingredients required for nation building. A nation cannot build under such a closed system, which is run largely by friends and family. Government needs to be tamed. We need to strip away its power in the next Presidential election. This I am sure will send a loud and crystal clear message that abuse on our country will not be tolerated. Dr. Cecil Dilipkumar